RomanPunks is a retrofuturistic, cyberpunk derivative world-building project inspired by fine art, history and the cryptopunk movement.
A total of 1,000 RomanPunk characters have been frozen in time and minted as Non Fungible Tokens (NFTs) on the Ethereum, WAX, Polygon and Algorand blockchains.
RomanPunk characters are comprised of commoners and famous individuals based on Roman history, art history and pop culture.
The basis for RomanPunk lore and backstories is exhaustively researched by history/sci-fi buff and co-founder, Punktavian.
All images are drawn by hand by woman artist and co-founder, Cleopunktra, without the aid of AI or generative tools.
RomanPunks came into existence through early minting on OpenSea, promoting on Twitter and building a Discord community through giveaways and engagement. The idea of a cyberpunk-derivative ‘RomanPunk’ theme was in our heads for years, but it was the success of the Cryptopunks that became the catalyst for project conception and launch.
After a hard working first 60 days spent networking and attracting new collectors to RomanPunks, our community had begun to flourish and sales increased. We began to offer our collectors an opportunity to battle their NFTs in a tournament bracket powered by dice rolls.
Encouraged by the tight knit community and the carbon-neutral blockchain with lightning fast and low cost transactions, we launched 'romanpunksio' collection on WAX Blockchain as the first step to expand the backstories of our RomanPunk characters and the baseline for future development of a card game.
RomanPunks integrated with Chainlink Labs to utilize VRF (Verified Randomness Function) to host a giveaway raffle for our holders. We developed a smart contract on Ethereum which guarantees true random number selection on chain and can be used for a wide range of functions that require random selection.
After much anticipation in the community, we released our first WAX NFT card 'pack' through the Neftyblocks platform, which sold out in less than a week.
We launched our Twitch channel and begun building an audience by offering numerous giveaways of WAX NFTs from our collection, as well as giving participants a chance to win RomanPunk ETH NFT airdrops for taking top spot at the end of the 'season'.
As firm believers in a metaverse future and land owners in The Sandbox, we undertook to build the RomanPunk Colosseum on 1x1 land and entered our experience "Gladiator Bloodsport" into a GameJam contest. We will continue to build the Colosseum into a PVP arena and social hub once The Sandbox offers creators the ability to do so.
Thanks to the user friendly tools offered by NeftyBlocks, we launched a comprehensive blending system on WAX, allowing our collectors to blend the common NFTs they earn in our Discord RPG up into Legendary famous NFTs through the use of blending 'coins' that can also be earned on the Discord as reward for helping to promote the RomanPunks project.
We launched the VX collection on Polygon. Each owner of an ETH NFT gets their voxel equivalent airdropped to them, and these NFTs can be redeemed for official NFTs on The Sandbox Marketplace once available.
All 1,000 original, unique 1:1 RomanPunk characters hand drawn by Cleopunktra and minted on OpenSea.
The RomanPunk WAX NFT Trading Card Fighter Pack Series II consists of 3 NFTs randomly selected from over 236 characters.
Upcoming plans for RomanPunks include:
Below is a comprehensive and searchable directory of all 1,000 RomanPunk Characters.
Born 1932 AD in Gordium, Peter is a disreputable yet high-priced criminal defense attorney for the Interdimensional Time Court. He is infamous for his involvement in controversial and high-profile cases, often exonerating culpable clients through dubious means such as evidence tampering, witness elimination, judicial bribery, and jury intimidation.
Born in 279 BC in Terme, at a young age Babe fell in love with Remigius, a dimension hopping rube from the 20th century AD. Soon tiring of the domestic lifestyle, she fled to the 28th century to join the Amazonian sisterhood of cybergladiators.
Born in 507 AD in the shadow of Carthage, Zeno is celebrated not for valour in battle but for his deft avoidance of it. A slacker and draft dodger, he shirked military duties, only to be caught in the Byzantine tide that brutally sacked his city. Seized by Belisarius’s legions, he was dispatched to the endless hemp fields of North Africa, a punishment he secretly relishes.
Born 341 AD in Constantinople, Lysandra is a bartender at a 26th century themed karaoke bar in downtown Constantinople and a podcast host who interviews famous historical figures while they eat spicy turkey wings.
Born 733 BC in Neapolis, Bardash was captured and enslaved by King Midas after an unsuccessful raid into his Kingdom of Phrygia. Known for his knowledge of and resistance to poisons, Bardash became an alchemist and food taster for the king.
Born 150 BC in Pella, Myrta, daughter of the last independent king of Macedon, boldly claims lineage from the mother of Alexander the Great. Emulating her tyrannical father, the pretender known as ‘Pseudo-Philip’, Myrta leads a mysterious cult with interdimensional powers, summoning extraterrestrial beings to aid her quest of terror and repression to reclaim her ‘ancestral’ Macedonian throne.
Born 266 AD in Trento, Uto was part of the mysterious Cthulu Cohort that, disappeared in a cave and returned as cybernetic drones puppeteered by an extradimensional alien force loyal to Emperor Diocletian.
Born 1960 AD in Valentia, Noira is a courtesan at Café Cypherpunk, a neon oasis where intergalactic metaverse denizens come to refuel and privately trade whispers of their escapades. A quiet observer by nature, Noira accidentally overhears a conspiracy that could destabilize the space-time continuum. Now, she’s marked by shadowy forces intent on silencing her, forcing her to navigate a world of intrigue far beyond her comprehension. Her only hope of survival lies in the hands of a dimension-hopping protector who may or may not arrive in time.
Born in 425 AD in Cartagena, Geil’s mother experienced an immaculate conception by the angel Lucifer. Geil was raised among the 80,000 Vandals invading Africa, later becoming a military commander who is responsible for countless atrocities.
Born 2488 AD in Ancyra, Draven comes from a long line of notorious highfalutin slave traders. He uses advanced telescopic lenses to scout his victims interdimensionally, then dispatches time traffickers through a portal to kidnap them as slaves for his base entertainment empire of lewd karaoke clubs, casinos, and virtual brothels in 26th century AD Neo-Byzantium. Charismatic yet ruthless, Draven’s influence extends back to ancient Galatia, long a haven for the effete elite, including covert colonialist cyborgs.
Born 201 BC in Petra, Gamila was a servant of at the Temple of Dushara. One day she spoke a strange incantation which opened an interdimensional portal that transported her to a 28th century AD alternate dimension where she was forced to fight as a gladiator.
Born in 99 AD in Spain during they heyday of Emperor Trajan, Augustina was sent to the to the gladiator pits after being falsely accused of murdering her parents. After showing great promise as a fighter, she was recruited by a women’s gladiator league from the 28th century AD.
Born in 431 AD in Hippo Regius to a Vandal marauder and a Roman nun, Brunhilda was an acrobatic performer pressed into service as a gladiator after all the fighting men were dispatched to sack Rome for the 3rd time.
Born 41 AD in Rome, Aericus is a senator masquerading as an actor to be closer to his forbidden love, a pleb Philetus, star of Virgil’s Aeneid.
Born 89 AD in Rome, Oppius was a member of the Punktorian Guard sent through an interdimensional portal on a reconnaissance mission by Emperor Hadrian; however, Oppius preferred the alternate 28th century AD reality and never attempted to return.
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romanpunks@protonmail.ch
Registered in Ontario, Canada
